歌 gē — song; sing · English

歌

gē

song; sing

At a glance · 歌

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Evolution of the glyph

Five stages, from a sketch of the real object to regular script — tap a stage, drag the timeline, or play the animation.

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seen
Oracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCE
Seal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCE
Clerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CE
Regular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seenOracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCESeal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCEClerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CERegular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

⚠ Some ancient forms are not attested：oracle bone form、seal script form。No excavated oracle bone / seal artifact is attested for this character yet; we leave it blank rather than fabricate.

小篆从欠（或言），哥声，本义为歌唱。形声清晰。

What the sketch shows

Origins & notes

本义为咏唱、歌曲。

Structure

形声字，从欠（意符，张口咏唱），哥（gē）为声符。

At a glance

Pinyingē

Radical欠

Strokes14

UnicodeU+6B4C

Character type形声

Theme礼乐

Six languages, one character

Each page offers hreflang versions; switching language keeps the glyphs and meanings aligned.

English song; sing A song; to sing.

Français chant; chanter Un chant ; chanter.

Español canción; cantar Una canción ; cantar.

العربية أغنية؛ يغني أغنية؛ يغني.

Русский песня; петь Песня; петь.

Common words

歌曲gē qǔsong
歌gēsing

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